Method and apparatus for automatically winding flyer bobbins

ABSTRACT

When a bobbin tube has been filled the pressing finger is moved a short distance beyond the bobbin end and a few turns of roving are wound on an adjacent reserve winding surface. The bobbin and reserve winding surface are moved apart and the roving severed between them. When an empty bobbin tube is positioned on the flyer, one layer of roving is wound onto it; then a stripper pushes the few turns of roving axially from the reserve winding surface onto the tube.

United States Patent Furtmeier et al.

[54] METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY WINDING FLYER BOBBINS Inventors: Hans Furtmeier; Rudolf Arnhold,

both of Ingolstadt, Germany Schubert 8r Saber Mmchinenfabrik Aktiengesellschaft, Ingolstadt, Germany Filed: Oct. 6, 1969 Appl. No.: 863,995

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Get. 9, 1968 Germany ..P l8 0] 978.8

US. Cl ..57/34 '11, 57/52, 57/156, 242/18 EW Int. Cl. ..DOIh U38, DOlh 9/16 Field of Search ..57/52, 34 R, 34 TI, 156, 54; 242/18 EW, i8 PA References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 9/1931 Layfield ..57l34TT 1/1952 Garnett ..57/34Tl Primary Examiner-John Petrakes Attorney-Robert W. Beach ABSTRACT When a bobbin tube has been filled the pressing finger is moved a short distance beyond the bobbin end and a few turns of roving are wound on an adjacent reserve winding surface. The bobbin and reserve winding surface are moved apart and the roving severed between them. When an empty bobbin tube is positioned on the flyer, one layer of roving is wound onto it; then a stripper pushes the few turns of roving axially from the reserve winding surface onto the tube.

15 Clahm, 8 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3 3.681.905

SiiEET 2 F 4 INVENTORS,

HAM 5 FU/PTME/EF B FUDOLF AWNHZJZD METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR AUTOMATICALLY WINDING FLY ROBBINS The present invention relates to methods for the automatic winding of flyer bobbins and to apparatus for carrying out the method.

After the completion of winding of the slubbing or roving bobbins in the flyer frame, the latter is usually so stopped that the pressing finger of the flyer leg is approximately in the middle of the bobbin. The flyer is raised and the slubbing or roving is broken or cut between the pressing finger and the bobbin. After the removal of the full bobbin, a bobbin tube is placed on the spindle. Although in the case of flyer frames in which the flyers are journalled at their top ends the breaking of the slubbing or roving can be carried out automatically by lowering the beam carrying the bobbins so as to allow the doffing of the full bobbins and the placing in position of bobbin tubes, the end of the broken or cut slubbing hanging from the pressing finger must be fixed on the bobbin tube before the flyer frame is started again so that the slubbing is wound onto the bobbin tube. This fixing-in position of the slubbing or roving is carried out either by hand by pressing a wet sponge against the tube or by the supply of a certain length of slubbing which must be drawn through the flyer leg and wound about the bobbin.

This involved and time consuming attachment of the slubbing or roving on changing bobbins has also made it impossible to change bobbins automatically and previous attempts to simplify operation of a flyer frame have not been successful. The construction of the bobbin tubes in accordance with the British Pat. No. 1,085,435 in which an adhesive surface is applied at suitable positions on the bobbin tubes for fixing the slubbing or roving admittedly facilitates fixation but there is the necessity of removing adhering pieces of slubbing or roving before the tube can be used on the flyer frame again.

The present invention departs from known methods and consists in a method for automatically winding a flyer bobbin in which after completion of the bobbin a reserve winding is produced at one end of the bobbin in order to avoid the fixation of the separated slubbing or roving by hand on the tube. In order to secure the attachment of the auxiliary or reserve winding, the winding part is moved in relation to the bobbin beyond the stroke necessary for bobbin formation into an end position and then moved back again nearly as far as the end of the bobbin tube so that the pressing finger exerts a clamping action for fixing the winding. In order to bring about an automatic removal of the reserve winding, after the winding of the first layers of the slubbing or roving the reserve winding is stripped off onto the tube. For carrying out the method an auxiliary winding surface or collar is arranged adjacent the bobbin tube for receiving the reserve winding, which can slide on the spindle with the flyer bobbin. In accordance with a further feature of the invention the auxiliary winding surface is arranged on the bobbin shah. Furthermore, either the auxiliary winding surface can be arranged to shift in a stripper for stripping off the auxiliary or reserve winding, or, for the same purpose, the stripper can be arranged to be shifted over the auxiliary winding surface.

The auxiliary winding surface is, in accordance with a further feature of the invention, arranged so that it can be coupled with the bobbin so that the auxiliary winding surface serves simultaneously as a centering and guide piece for the bobbin.

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings which show several embodiments of it.

H0. 1 is a side view of a flyer frame incorporating apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 2 to 4 show the operation of the apparatus in accordance with FIG. 1, partially in section.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show a further embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention.

FIGS. 7 and 8 show an embodiment of apparatus in accordance with the invention with double support positions for the flyer.

As is drown in FIG. 1, a sliver l is drawn from cans 2 arranged in a conventional manner behind a flyer frame denoted by general reference numeral F. This sliver l is drafted in a drafting device 3 to produce slubbing or roving 11 which is wound on a bobbin tube 6 by means of a flyer 4 with a pressing finger 5, mounted on a flyer support beam 82. The bobbin is built up by the deposition one after the other of the wound layers of slubbing or roving. The flyer frame is stopped when a certain bobbin weight, corresponding to a certain number of layers of slubbing or roving, has been wound to form the bobbin such as 7. In conventional constructions the pressing finger 5 comes to rest in the middle of the bobbin 7 when the bobbin is completed. 0n lowering the bobbin carrying beam 8 the slubbing or roving extending between the finger and the bobbin is broken or cut.

However, in order to avoid this cutting or breaking and the necessary fixation of the slubbing or roving on the bobbin tube, the flyer frame is not stopped, in accordance with the invention, when the pressing finger is in the middle of the bobbin 7, but the bobbin carrying beam 8 is automatically lowered a distance greater than the stroke H necessary for bobbin formation into an end position E (FIG. I) so that the pressing finger 5 moves over an auxiliary winding surface 9 and a reserve or auxiliary winding 91 is formed.

In order to prevent with certainty sliding of the reserve winding and to allow for breakage of the slubbing or roving on removing the full bobbin, the latter is moved in relation to the pressing finger 5 through a distance exceeding the stroke H required for bobbin formation not only into the end position E but also back as far as the tube end 61 (FIG. 2). The reserve or auxiliary winding 91 is then behind the pressing finger S at the same level and the pressing finger exerts a certain clamping action by which the reserve winding 91 is fixed. In this manner for the attachment or fixation of the slubbing or roving only a few turns are required for the next winding operation.

As a drive shaft for the flyer 4 and for joumalling the tube 6 use is made of a spindle 10 on which the auxiliary winding surface 9 is arranged so that it can be shifted axially. At the free end of the spindle 10 there is a retaining part 12 which is constructed as a centering and guide piece for the tube 6 and limits downward movement of the auxiliary winding face 9 or collar which can shift on the spindle 10.

During bobbin winding the auxiliary winding surface 9 or collar lies on the upper edge of the tube 6 and slides in accordance with the stroke performed for layer formation with the tube 6 upwards and downwards on the spindle 10. In order to prevent the auxiliary winding surface 9 or collar jamming on the spindle 10 and to ensure that sliding movement is not prevented by the presence of dirt, the auxiliary winding face or collar is made of a suitable weight so that such resistance to its movement is overcome. Preferably the auxiliary winding face or collar is, however, made of plastics material and is arranged to be capable of being coupled with the tube 6 in order to compensate for its lack in weight. For example the coupling can comprise a rubber ring which is fixed on the lower part of the auxiliary winding face or collar over which the tube is pushed. It is also possible to use a coupling of the multiple contact point type as used on ring spinning machine spindles, the tube 6 being connected by suitable gripping parts 13 with the auxiliary winding face 9 or collar. The gripping parts are pressed outwards against the interior face of the tube (see FIGS. 2 and 3) by springs 14.

When bobbin formation is ended and, as already mentioned above, a reserve or auxiliary winding 91 has been formed on the auxiliary winding surface 9 (FIGS. 1 and 2); the bobbin carrying beam 8 is lowered down further for bobbin doffing, so that the bobbin 7 or its bobbin tube 6 is drawn free from the retaining part 12 and only lies on the entraining dog 81. The auxiliary winding surface 9 or collar with the reserve or auxiliary winding 91 is held back in this position by the retaining part 12 and separated from the bobbin 6 as shown in FIG. 3. On this lowering of the bobbin carrying beam 8 the slubbing or roving l l is broken between the reserve winding 91 and the bobbin 7; this is carried out at the latest by the time the bobbin 7 is doffed by mechanical means or by hand (FIG. 3).

After the placing in position of a new bobbin tube 6 and the setting in motion again of the flyer frame the bobbin carrying beam 8 is raised. The auxiliary or reserve winding surface 9 or collar is again connected with the end 61 of the tube which moves into a position close to the pressing finger 5. Then a first layer of slubbing or roving is wound. By this raising of the bobbin beam 8 the auxiliary winding face 9 or collar is also displaced through a distance equal to the whole stroke length H and so comes into a stripper 41 which, after the winding of the first layer of the slubbing or roving, strips ofi the reserve winding 91, which is no longer required, from the reserve winding surface 9 onto the tube 6. The auxiliary winding face 9, now freed of the auxiliary windings 91, is now ready to receive a further reserve winding after the completion of bobbin windmg.

In the case of the embodiments of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and 7 and 8 the stripper 41 is in the form of a cylindrical recess at the head of the flyer leg 4 or 44. It of course naturally follows that the stripper can also be constructed as an independent part, for example as shown in FIGS. and 6.

The method in accordance with the invention is generally applicable to conventional flyer and bobbin frames. In the case of the construction in accordance with FIG. 5 the flyer 42 is connected on one side with an upright spindle 101, while the sleeve or tube 6 is driven via the bobbin shaft 104, on which the auxiliary winding surface 92 is arranged under the tube 6, it being rigidly connected with bobbin shaft 104. In order to form the reserve winding or coil on such winding surface, the bobbin beam 8 is raised a distance greater than the stroke H into an end position, so that the roving guide member or pressing finger 51 is moved relative to the auxiliary winding surface or holding surface 92 or collar and a reserve winding is formed. For doffing the bobbin 7, the flyer 42 is slightly raised from the spindle shaft 101 so that the bobbin 7 can be doffed, the slubbing or roving being simultaneously broken or cut between the bobbin 7 and the auxiliary winding surface 92. After the placing in position of a new bobbin tube or core and the setting of the flyer frame in motion again, the bobbin carrying beam 8 is lowered again and simultaneously a first layer of slubbing or roving is wound. When the bobbin carrying beam 8 is in its lower position, the non-rotary push rods or tappets 84, shown diagrammatically in FIG. 6, are pressed through the bobbin beam 8 upwards so that, owing to engagement with the transmission housing 100, a rail 83, mounted on the bobbin beam 8, is moved upwards. This rail 83 carries strippers 43 which are displaced by the raising of the rail 83 relative to the auxiliary winding surfaces 92 or collars and thus strip the reserve windings 91 over onto the tubes 6. As a result the auxiliary winding surfaces 92 or collars are freed from the reserve winding so that after the end of the next bobbin forming operation new reserve windings can be accepted.

In the case of the flyer 44 shown in FIG. 7, carried at both ends, the bobbin shaft 103 is raised a distance exceeding the length of the stroke 1-! into an end position E, so that a reserve winding 91 is also formed on an auxiliary winding surface 93 or collar. The surface 93 is, in this arrangement, stationary on the bobbin shaft 103. The auxiliary winding surface 93 can be a collar integrally formed on the bobbin shaft 103, it only being necessary to make the external diameter of the auxiliary winding surface 93 or collar agree with the interior diameter of the stripper 45.

For doffing the bobbin 7 the spindle shaft 102 is lowered. The bobbin 7 which is now freed can be removed and the slubbing or roving between the auxiliary winding face 93 and the bobbin 7 can be broken or cut (FIG. 8). After the placing in position of an empty bobbin tube 6 and moving up of the spindle shaft 102, the flyer frame with finger 52 is put into operation again. The auxiliary winding surface 93 is moved into the stripper 45 on lowering the bobbin shaft 103, so that the slubbing or roving remaining on the auxiliary winding face 93 is stripped onto the sleeve 6.

The present invention, of course, could be applied to many types of operations for winding filamentous material including sliver, roving, slubbing, thread, strand, filament, yarn, rope cordage, wire or cable.

We claim:

1. In a method for automatically winding filamentous material on flyer bobbins, the steps of winding, at the end of the bobbin winding operation and before doffing the full bobbin, a reserve coil of filamentous material on an auxiliary winding surface closely adjacent to one end of the bobbin but separate from the bobbin, severing the reserve coil on the auxiliary winding surface from the filamentous winding on the full bobbin,

removing the full bobbin from its position adjacent to the auxiliary winding surface, placing an unfilled bobbin core adjacent to the auxiliary winding surface, and transferring the reserve coil bodily from the auxiliary winding surface to the unfilled bobbin core.

2. in the method defined in claim 1, moving a member which guides the material relative to the bobbin core during its final stroke through a distance exceeding its normal bobbin winding stroke to wind the reserve coil.

3. In the method defined in claim 2, the steps of winding a single layer of material on a bobbin core and stripping the reserve coil from the holding surface and transferring such coil to the bobbin core.

4. In a flyer frame including shafi means for holding a bobbin core, means for winding filamentous material on the bobbin core, and an auxiliary winding member separate from the bobbin core and carried by the shaft means adjacent to the bobbin core for receiving filamentous material from the winding means, which filamentous material thus wound on the auxiliary winding member constitutes a reserve coil, the improvement comprising means for shifting such reserve coil bodily axially from the auxiliary winding member to the bobbin core.

5. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the auxiliary winding member including a collar slidable axially along the shaft means.

6. In the flyer frame defined in claim 5, the shaft member for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material from such auxiliary winding member and transferring such coil to a bobbin core.

8. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, the stripper means including a cup and the auxiliary winding member being movable into said cup.

9. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, the stripper means being slidable over the auxiliary winding member.

10. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, means for effecting relative movement between the stripper means and the auxiliary winding member lengthwise of the shaft means.

11. In the flyer frame defined in claim 10, hub means encircling the shaft means, and the stripper means being formed as a cavity in said hub means into which the auxiliary winding member is movable for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material therefrom.

12. In the flyer frame defined in claim 11, a bobbin rail engageable with a bobbin core for moving it relative to the winding means, the stripper means being supported by said bobbin rail, and means for moving said stripper means relative to said bobbin rail and the auxiliary winding surface for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material therefrom.

13. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the winding member being engageable with a bobbin core for rotai'fiiiiii iiii'i-ifie 2 2:21 in c a lhi ii the auxiliary winding member including means insertable into an end of a bobbin core and supporting such core end relative to the shaft means for synchronous rotation of the auxiliary winding member and the bobbin core.

15. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the auxiliary winding member being arranged on the shaft means for synchronous rotation therewith.

t :1: a: e a 

1. In a method for automatically winding filamentous material on flyer bobbins, the steps of winding, at the end of the bobbin winding operation and before doffing the full bobbin, a reserve coil of filamentous material on an auxiliary winding surface closely adjacent to one end of the bobbin but separate from the bobbin, severing the reserve coil on the auxiliary winding surface from the filamentous winding on the full bobbin, removing the full bobbin from its position adjacent to the auxiliary winding surface, placing an unfilled bobbin core adjacent to the auxiliary winding surface, and transferring the reserve coil bodily from the auxiliary winding surface to the unfilled bobbin core.
 2. In the method defined in claim 1, moving a member which guides the material relative to the bobbin core during its final stroke through a distance exceeding its normal bobbin winding stroke to wind the reserve coil.
 3. In the method defined in claim 2, the steps of winding a single layer of material on a bobbin core and stripping the reserve coil from the holding surface and transferring such coil to the bobbin core.
 4. In a flyer frame including shaft means for holding a bobbin core, means for winding filamentous material on the bobbin core, and an auxiliary winding member separate from the bobbin core and carried by the shaft means adjacent to the bobbin core for receiving filamentous material from the winding means, which filamentous material thus wound on the auxiliary winding meMber constitutes a reserve coil, the improvement comprising means for shifting such reserve coil bodily axially from the auxiliary winding member to the bobbin core.
 5. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the auxiliary winding member including a collar slidable axially along the shaft means.
 6. In the flyer frame defined in claim 5, the shaft means having an enlargement thereon limiting the extent of sliding of the auxiliary winding member along the shaft means and said enlargement being engageable with a bobbin core for centering the bobbin core relative to the shaft means.
 7. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, stripper means movable relative to the auxiliary winding member for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material from such auxiliary winding member and transferring such coil to a bobbin core.
 8. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, the stripper means including a cup and the auxiliary winding member being movable into said cup.
 9. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, the stripper means being slidable over the auxiliary winding member.
 10. In the flyer frame defined in claim 7, means for effecting relative movement between the stripper means and the auxiliary winding member lengthwise of the shaft means.
 11. In the flyer frame defined in claim 10, hub means encircling the shaft means, and the stripper means being formed as a cavity in said hub means into which the auxiliary winding member is movable for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material therefrom.
 12. In the flyer frame defined in claim 11, a bobbin rail engageable with a bobbin core for moving it relative to the winding means, the stripper means being supported by said bobbin rail, and means for moving said stripper means relative to said bobbin rail and the auxiliary winding surface for stripping the reserve coil of filamentous material therefrom.
 13. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the winding member being engageable with a bobbin core for rotation conjointly therewith at the same speed.
 14. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the auxiliary winding member including means insertable into an end of a bobbin core and supporting such core end relative to the shaft means for synchronous rotation of the auxiliary winding member and the bobbin core.
 15. In the flyer frame defined in claim 4, the auxiliary winding member being arranged on the shaft means for synchronous rotation therewith. 